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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. degree — an amount
  3. club — a group
  4. stem — to come from
  5. season — in sport
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. spell — magic
  9. season — of the year
  10. staff — employees
  11. spell — letters
  12. root — the cause
  13. club — for dancing
  14. spell — a short time
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. root — of a plant
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. root — of a word
  20. staff — employees
  21. wake — a trail
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. degree — from a university
  24. staff — a stick

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com